Such devices are known, for example, from the following French patent applications: FR 2 563 712, FR 2 580 479, FR 2 515 941, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,194,848, 4,609,300, 6,676,320, 4,261,376, 4,332,494, 4,333,928, 6,503,487, and from the following patent applications EP-A-1 060 686, DE-A1-32 40 151, WO 98/00045, EP-A2-0 219 138, JP-11-004714, JP-10-117840, JP-2001-061545, JP-2001-061548, JP-11-244043, JP-2000-037227, JP-10-9128, JP-08-289815, JP-2001-327326, JP-2001-000239, JP-2000-66642, JP-08-228829, or JP-2001-000239.
French patent application FR 2 605 198 also discloses a makeup kit including a stiffener device for adjusting stiffness of a wiper lip of a wiper member.
In such patents and patent applications, the applicator comprises a mascara brush that is generally cylindrical in shape, including a rectilinear core that extends in line with a stem.
French patent application FR 2 738 125 discloses a mascara packaging device configured in such a manner that a user may adjust wiping by pressing on a container which is made of flexible material. As disclosed, the applicator comprises a handle with tufts of bristles implanted parallel to a mean plane of the handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,743 discloses a mascara applicator device including a wiper member, means for acting thereon to modify an inside section thereof, and an applicator comprising a brush including a twisted core that extends along a curvilinear axis, the brush being of circular cross-section and including a diameter that decreases going toward a free end thereof.
In known devices with variable wiper members, a quantity of composition present on the applicator may be modified by the user acting on an adjustment of the wiper member.